The Houston Astros and the Oakland A’s face off on Friday in Oakland as they play game one of their series.

The Oakland A’s have the top spot in the AL Wildcard but they have dropped back 4.5 games behind the Angels in the American League West. Oakland is 44-25 at home, 3-7 in their last 10 games, and they have lost their last two games. As a team the A’s are hitting .247 with Josh Donaldson hitting .255, Coco Crisp hitting .254, and Brandon Moss hitting .242. The Athletics pitching staff has an ERA of 3.29 with the starters at 3.50 and the bullpen at 2.85. For game one of this series that A’s start Jeff Samardziaa who has been the best of Oakland’s late season acquisitions. Since being traded to Oakland Samrdzija has allowed 63 hits and 30 earned runs while striking out 62 over 75.2 innings for a 4-4 record and a 3.57 ERA.

The Houston Astros are going through growing pains but they are playing well heading into this series. The Astros are 26-40 on the road, 6-4 in their last 10 games, and they have won their last four games. As a team the Astros are hitting .242 with Jose Altuve hitting .340, Chris Carter hitting .231, and Jason Castro hitting .230. For game one against Oakland the Astros start Brett Oberholtzer who has lost his ast three decisions. For the season Oberholtzer has allowed 142 hits and 59 earned runs while striking out 81 over 121 innings for a 4-10 record and a 4.39 ERA.

Oakland is 4-1 in game one of a series, 38-16in their last 54 home games, and 5-1 in Samardzija’s last six home starts. Houston is 4-0 against the AL West, 54-142 against a team with a winning record, and 3-8 in Oberholtzer’s last 11 road starts. Houston is 11-30 in the last 41 meetings of these two.

I like Oakland here but laying these type of odds isn’t something I do so the A’s are the pick and that’s as far as it is going with me.

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